Buy Chinese Cars
But there are teething problems. Reuters spoke to several Russian car buyers - individuals and dealerships - who perceived the quality of some Chinese cars to be lower than Western rivals and industry experts said
buy chinese cars
The sharp swing comes, however, amid plummeting sales of new cars, which slumped 59 percent in 2022 as lower living standards and a desire for Western-made vehicles caused people to reduce their spending and purchase more used cars.
The Chinese car market is the biggest passenger car market in the world. It became the largest in 2009, and has remained the largest ever since. In 2015, automakers sold 21.1 million passenger cars, up 7.3% from 2014. That number is less stellar than before, 10% in 2014 and 16% in 2013, but the growth alone (1.1 million) is almost as big as the entire Australian car market (1.15 million).
Growth is accelerating again with an additional 7.8% in March, and new tax breaks for cars with small capacity engines will likely keep sales going up. The entire year's growth of passenger car sales is forecast to reach 8%, which would size the market at 22.8 million sales, making China the largest market again, by a wide margin.
Chinese car buyers are lucky. They can choose between more brands and more cars than any other car buyer in any other country. The number of brands is staggering. As of May 2016 there are 130 (one-hundred thirty) passenger car brands available in China. And the moment you read this the number is likely higher yet again, as new brands keep popping up.
There are three kinds of brands in China: the foreign brands, like Audi , the local Chinese brands, like Geely, and the sub-brands under foreign-Chinese car making joint ventures, like Venucia. Furthermore, local Chinese brands usually sell cars under various brands, these brands are included in the list only if they have their own logo, marketing, and sales channels. Excluded from the list are commercial-vehicle makers (buses, vans, light trucks, etc), but pickup truck makers are included.
The number of cars is so large it is hard to believe. As of May 2016, and it took me a day to count them all, there are 952 (nine-hundred fifty-two) different cars available on the Chinese market. This number includes imported and locally-made cars. The number excludes body-style variants; so the Volkswagen Polo is counted once, and not twice for sedan and hatchback.
The foreign brand with the most offerings is Volkswagen with 28 Volkswagen-branded cars. If you add in the body-style variants the number goes up to 40. Out of the 28 names, 15 are manufactured at Volkswagen's two local joint ventures, and 13 are imported from abroad. Of the 15 cars that are made locally, seven cars are developed specifically for the Chinese market and not available anywhere else.
The enormous difference is caused mainly by two reasons: high taxes and healthy entrepreneurship. China slaps heavy taxes on cars with an engine capacity of four liters and above, which is the sort of engine most exclusive cars have under the hood. The S600 has a 6.0 liter V12 and the F12berlinetta a 6.3 liter V12. Taxes can be as much as 60% of the new price of a vehicle, and on top of that comes a 10% purchase tax.
Less wealthy Chinese car buyers are also very lucky. They pay much less for an affordable car than buyers in other countries, because the market also has the cheapest cars in the world, in almost every category. This end of the market is the exclusive domain of the local Chinese automakers.
But the biggest growth will come from new-energy vehicles (NEVs), the hottest market segment now and in the future. NEVs include electric cars and plug-in hybrids, holding 60% and 40% of the NEV market respectively. In 2015 sales of new-energy vehicles stood at 188,700 units, only 0.9% of the total market but representing a growth of 223% compared to 2015.
The main reasons behind the ballooning sales is the Chinese government, fanatically promoting NEVs in a bid to reduce air pollution and to modernize the local auto industry. Subsidies for new-energy cars are as high as 90,000 yuan, making NEVs attractive for a large audience that attracts more automakers which in turn attracts more buyers.
Local governments add more incentives, like free license plates and free parking. And China is finally getting serious about adding more public chargers for electric cars. Although problems remain inside housing complexes, public spaces see a fast addition of brand new charges, operated by the State Grid, China's state owned electricity company.
The beneficiaries are mainly the local Chinese automakers, which are adding many new electrics and plug-in hybrids to their lineups. On last month's Beijing Auto Show they showed more than 140 NEVs. Foreign automakers are hindered by regulations that force them to develop EVs with a Chinese partner, but they were also plain late to the party, playing wait-and-see while the locals started to make cars, and they can make them very inexpensively; the cheapest full-electric in China is the Zotye Yun 100, priced at just 63,600 yuan after subsidies.
The largest market in the world, with growth poised to accelerate again, is supported by expensive cars, cheap cars, the government, and increasingly by electric cars. China will remain an exciting place for the car industry for a long time coming; the place to be and the spot to watch.
Updated March 2022: China is notorious for cheap knock-offs and subpar-quality products. They're also known for building consistently solid products that billions of people use worldwide. While cars from China haven't won the world over, some decent examples and some not-so-great examples exist. We've updated this list to include a few more to show off the extensive range of Chinese cars.
Not all Chinese cars are outright garbage, but they have a few questionable ones. They also have some excellent vehicles in the luxury car segment. When we think about Chinese brands, we think about Geely, FAW, Great Wall, and Dongfeng. Usually, most of their designs are bad copies of the models we know, and they may make the vehicles with parts that Japanese and Korean manufacturers refuse to use. Though they have some questionable cars, many are actually pretty decent and affordable. Here are some Chinese cars that are good and some that are garbage.
Unlike most of the competitor cars on the market, the V3 actually has a unique look. In 2017, the car got a facelift with chrome grills and connected headlamps. You can get this crossover with either a manual or automatic transmission. The vehicle also comes with an extended warranty.
Dongfeng is known for its line of pure electric cars, hybrids, multipurpose vehicles, and dual-fuel cars. This is a pretty decent idea in a country that is known for having one of the highest carbon emissions in the world.
Because of rising car prices, fewer Americans can afford to buy a new car. Over the past 20 years the auto industry has pushed about 5 million households out of the new-car market and into the used-car market. And now, with extra-heavy demand for used cars, prices for them are going up just as fast as with new cars. Used-car prices last year jumped $6,000 to an average of about $28,000. And that is too much for a lot of people.
Meanwhile, the Chinese car market is saturated with too many car companies making too many cars. Some estimates put the overcapacity level in China at 20 million units. In response, China is rapidly ramping up its automotive exports to soak up that excess capacity.
EIM deals with the hassle of importing and clearing customs for these little cars, so Americans can simply order one as easily as they can order an electric bicycle. A few clicks and a mini car or truck shows up at your driveway. The car version, which has a smaller battery and lower power motor, starts at $4,800, while the truck starts at closer to $7,500. Adding options increases the price (and my fully outfitted truck would likely be north of $9,000), but those options allow drivers to customize the vehicle to their individual needs.
Despite the issues from trade tariffs and the elimination of the federal tax credit, some Chinese automakers plan to expand into the American market. To get around the increased costs, some of these companies plan to move manufacturing plants onto U.S. soil, so the cars are produced locally instead of in a Chinese plant.
Nio, one Chinese automaker, currently sells vehicles in Norway, but there are plans to reach the North American market soon. The company planned to begin with gasoline-powered cars and then move to EVs shortly after that.
To be clear, Tesla is still the market leader for high-end electric vehicles in China. During a quick check at the start of the evening commute one day, CNBC found 11 Tesla cars passing by, along with two Nio SUVs, one from WM Motor and Xpeng's latest P7 sedan.
But compared with the U.S., the majority of cars in China do not have fixed parking spaces, making it difficult for many drivers to have regular access to battery charging stations, according to Mingming Huang, founding partner at Future Capital Discovery Fund, an investor in Li Auto.
Finally, many Chinese drivers are choosing electric cars because of favorable government policy, such as programs that make it far quicker and cheaper to get license plates for the electric vehicles. Due to efforts to reduce congestion and pollution in Chinese cities, locals often need to wait years to buy expensive license plates for fuel-powered cars.
Companies like Geely, Chery and Great Wall are betting that their low-cost cars will be a hit with a growing class of African consumers in countries including Kenya, South Africa, Nigeria and Ethiopia. In the last year there has been a rash of announcements about new African assembly plants for Chinese cars and trucks, as manufacturers look for ways to keep prices low.
Nio (NIO) targets a booming market for electric cars. The Chinese EV startup is preparing a year-end sales push, and shares soared Nov. 11 as China eased its zero-Covid policy. Is Nio stock a buy in November 2022? 041b061a72